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michaelgreenreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Violence
sunpuddles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Abortion
readwithkiks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
at times, the writing was difficult to get through. some sentences felt too short, like important parts of them were clipped away. others seemed to go on for pages and were hard for me to follow. there were some fantastic, sharp sentiments that seemed so specific to the main character's Zillenial New Yorker perspective. Edie is the type of person who seems aloof, but is really just constantly in her head about everything. she is alone in much of the book, even when she's in the presence of others, she's alone. she regards herself with a level of carelessness that made me want to cry. she personifies this mediocre man in ways that lots of us personify men, projecting onto him an allure and intrigue he doesn't deserve. and yet, she has moments of such cutting clarity.
"He wants me to be myself like a leopard might be herself in a city zoo. Inert, waiting to be fed. Not out in the wild, with tendon in her teeth."
i mean, come on. what a sentence, what an image.
reading this made me feel slightly claustrophobic, or like i was being held underwater. you're seeing into the main character's desires and pain and trauma with such intimacy, it can feel nauseating. Leilani perfectly captures the ways that pleasure can slip into disgust and endearment can slip into repulsion. the lines between those feelings are so blurred. it's uncomfortable to sit with.
*light spoiler ahead*
i will end with another quote from the book that i read over and over. near the end, there's a violent interaction with police officers and Leilani writes:
"I know that the moment between when a black boy is upright and capable of speech and when he is prostrate in his own blood is almost imperceptible, due in great part to the tacit conversation that is happening beyond him, that has happened before him, and that resists his effort to enter it before it concludes."
Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence
ifersinklings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Excrement, Police brutality, and Abortion
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Edie is a very frustrating character, continuously making bad decisions. The narrative is also very focused in the present and there isn't much reflection on or analysis of her past, leaving you to piece together the possible reasons behind her self-destructive behaviour. I can definitely understand the comparisons to Queenie and Fleabag but I feel like both of those characters learnt and grew more than Edie did. This is more like a glimpse into her life and I still felt worried about her by the end. I just really wanted someone to genuinely be there for her.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, and Abortion
Minor: Animal death
clarafoster's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, and Abortion
sharese_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
As this book has been well reviewed many know the plot: the book revolves around Edie who strikes up a sexual relationship with an older man and then moves in with his family (white wife, black adopted daughter) when she loses her job and apartment. What ensues is the dynamics between all of these people, the development and disintegration of relationships between each of them.
Leilani writes from a place and point of view of my own self-absorbed and aware generation, which I appreciate. Her feminist manifesto in the end left me cheering. Her characters, though very flawed, were relatable and the women were well developed (Eric was not but I think that was on purpose). The character development of Edie, her backstory and what made her who she is was thought out and woven into the novel wonderfully. All in all I think the writing, character development and the overall story was well done in a perfectly unsettling way.
Moderate: Violence and Abortion
amelreads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Death of parent
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, and Police brutality
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, and Gun violence
Age gap relationship.capote65's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts
leahrosereads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Medical content